Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been at the heart of a months-long crisis, which briefly erupted in January into tit-for-tat military strikes between Iran and the United States. He built up regional militias that Washington has blamed for attacks on US forces. Iran responded with missile strikes on US targets in Iraq on January 8th, injuring although not killing US troops. The delay sparked protests across Iran, sometimes meeting a violent crackdown. Mr Trump sent tweets in Farsi and English to support the demonstrators, drawing a sharp response from the ayatollah.

Source: The Irish Times January 17, 2020 09:33 UTC